Respiration belt



Nov. 1, 1927. l I

' 1,647,299 0. KONIG Y RESPIRATION'BELT r 4 Fiiedbec. 2's. 192s 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnkentor:

NovJl, 1927. o. KUNIG' RES/PIRATION BELT I F r d Dec. 28. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /n vemon: 40:

Patented Nov. 1, 1927.

I ,atzaa RESPIRATION BELT.

Application filed December as, 192 Serial No. 157,5 1, and in Germany March 4, 1926.

This invention relates to a respiration belt for carrying out respirationexercises in order to obtain a uniform breathing which, 7 with the aid of the belt, isca rried out forcibly. Therespiration belt is of special advantage for such persons who breath only superficially as asthmatic people and suchpeople who suffer of dilatation of the lungs and of tuberculosis. The belt according to 1: the invention has a buckle which comprises an automatically acting locking mechanism which, when thepatient' eXhales incompletely locks the buckleautomatically so that it prevents inhaling, which can be carried out is again only after complete exhaling.

7 An embodiment of the invention is shown, by way of. example, in the accompanying drawing, in which: i a I Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the belt. Fig. 2 shows the buckle of the belt inelevation in open position.

Fig. 3 1s a cross section on line IIIIII of Fig. 2. e

n Fig. 4 shows in elevation the locking mechanism of the buckle in an intermediate position.

Fig. 5 is a section on line- V-V of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 shows another intermediate position of the locking mechanism ofthe buckle.

Fig. 7 is a cross section on line VIL-VII of Fig. 6. V I

Fig.8 shows a third intermediate position of the locking mechanism of the buckle.

Fig. 9 is a cross section on line IX--IX of Fig. 8. I

Fig. 10 is a cross section on line X- of Fig. 6.

' Fig. 11 shows the locking pawl in plan View. 1

The belt a is made from convenient material as leather, or the like, which is not elastic, and might consist for instance either of one or, as shown in Fig. 2 of two straps which are about 10 cms. bread. The belt is to be buckled around the breast so that it is securely held on the breast. The ends of the two straps a are connected the one with the other by means of oblong eyes 79,-?) which are connected the one with the other by means of a buckle. To facilitate the putting on of the belt the bands a may have automatically closing spring hooks not shown in the drawing and engaging with the corresponding oblong eye b.

The buckle consists of a flat casing c with a movable lid d, in which a locking pawl is onto the rear wall ofthe casing is slidably.

guided, said plate being controlled by means of pulling elementsh attachedat the one end 4 to said plate g and at the other end to said casing c and consisting of, rubber strings or spiral springs which have the tendency to pull the slidable plate 9 into the position of rest shown in Fig.2. Tothe one endof the slidingplate g a movable strip 71 is attached which isconnccted to one of the oblong eye's' b and passes through an aperture is of the corresponding end ,wall of the casing c. The

other end of the rear wall of easing c has an" eye m in which the two ends of a loopshaped strap Z are attached which passes through the second vertical oblong eye I). The slidable plate 9 carries a rack a of angular cross section and having a number of teeth 0, the gaps between said teeth being so wide that the locking nose 7 can freely pass between said teeth. The teeth 0 are parallel to the lockingnose f, i. e. standing at the same angle to. the longitudinal axis of the slidable plate 9 as this locking nose.

The operation of the belt is as follows: i

The locking pawl 7 adopts the position shown in Fig. 2 when the person, who wears the belt, exhales completely, the nose of the locking pawl standing in front of the rack 91. At the inhaling the belt, which-has been adthe strip 71 pulls the slidable plate 9 into the directionof the arrow shown in Fig. 2, i. e.

moves the same in the casing 0 in opposite direction to the loop-shaped strap Z, where by the nose of the locking pawl e is pressed onto the lower side of rack n so that this rack slides along the locking pawl. When the patient has completely inhaled, the rear end of the rack 'n stands'in front of the nose f'of the locking pawl so that the same is released and, owing to the elasticity of shaft 6, the nose 7 is raised so that it stands over the upper side of the rack n. At the exhaling the pulling elements it which have been put under tension pull the slidable plate g and the holding strip 11 into the initial position so that the upper ends of teeth 0 slide, as shown in Fig.6, along the nose I of the pawl. When the person who wears the belt has not inhaled completely but only 90 I justed to thecorrect width, is expanded and V ment with one of the gaps between the teeth '0, whereupon the locking pawl is lifted out of the rack 72 and adopts again the position shown in Fig. 6, owing to the inclined position Of'tlle teeth 0 and 0f the direction of pull of the detending rubberstrings h. The locking mechanism in the buckle permits consequently ot' a complete inhaling as well as of a partial inhaling.

If however the person who wears the belt does not exhale completely, i. e. interrupts the exhaling during the backward movement of the slidable plate g, the nose of the locking pawl will come into engagement with the next gap between teeth (Fig. 8) and lock the rack. If in this position of the locking mechanism in the buckle the person who wears the belt tries to inhale, the locking nose 7 will be pressed the more strongly into the corresponding gap between teeth, so that the belt is locked and inhaling is prevented. The person must consequently exhale completely again in order that the nose f of the lockingbolt gets into the-position shown in Fig-2,1 e. the position which permits inhaling. patient is therefore forced to exhale completely so that his lungs Work properly.

The buckle of the belt may be of any other than the rectangular shape, i. e. it might have a circular shape.

A respiration belt comprising in combination, a strap of non-elastic material, a buckle connecting the two ends of said strap, and consisting of a flat casing, of a slidable plate in said casing, of a rack having oblique teeth, and of an elastic locking pawl having an oblique nose designed to engage with any of the gaps between the teeth of said rack and designed for automatically locking said belt to prevent inhaling as long as the patient has not completely exhaled.

The

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OTTO KGNIG. 

